Helpful Beavers Aid Needy Plaintiff

The Widget:

Court: SJC
Judge: Greaney
Subject: Zoning (and beavers)
Tone: Brackish
Importance: 3.6

The SJC’s decision in Jepson v. Zoning Board of Appeals, No. SJC-09914, will probably interest and confound the land use folks out there. Logically, the opinion feels like it skips some steps in exempting affordable housing developments that include commercial aspects from some zoning requirements for commercial uses.

What’s really significant about this decision, though, is the Court’s holding that one of the plaintiffs had standing to sue because some industrious beavers had built a dam in a wetland abutting his property. He prudently decided against suing the beavers. He sued the Town and the YMCA instead.